Journal

So Emily and I were tired of the rain and wanted to get out and about. She wanted to play Pokémon Go I naturally wanted to fish. After checking the radar and forecast of areas I was willing to drive to and noticing it's raining everywhere but the coast. With little debate we decided on Galveston being our best bet because as you Pokémon Goer's probably know it's loaded with Pokémon and if you didn't know now you do. So the plan was to walk the seawall let Emily hunt Pokémon until it was dark and then go paddle and fish the night lights.

After probably an hour and half or so I was getting bored and noticed how nice the surf was looking clarity wise for Galveston. I decided to grab the fly rods and try my chances in the surf and let Emily continue her Pokémon Go game. I rigged up the 8wt with a float line and a chartreuse foam popper and a pink clouser dropper to imitate a popping cork, and rigged the other rod with an intermediate line and a big black and purple ep baitfish. As soon as I got to the jetty rocks I noticed nervous bait in the first gut of the surf. I started working that area with the popper dropper. Probably about 5 minutes into that nervous bait started getting blown up and I don't mean that normal trout sucking sound you hear. I mean 18 to 20 something inch trout getting airborne and bait flying in every direction! It was a sight to see!

Then boom my popper gets inhaled and it's on! After a hell of a fight I pull up a 22” trout my personal best until the next cast. That very next cast two feet from the rock edge I watch as a beast of a trout murders my popper and I stick him good. He didn't like it all and immediately earned the reel! The only trout to do so all day. After a decent game of tug a war and keeping him clear of the rocks I netted my new personal best Speckled trout right at 25 inches just a beast of a trout on the fly rod or any rod. This action continued for around 30 minutes and I even scored a double up two 18 inch trout at the same time! Then It seemed like the trout either left or were tired of that popper and things went kinda quiet. I switched over to the intermediate and started throwing that streamer. Maybe 10 minutes or so went by and the trout started exploding again and again I started sticking 18 to 20 inch trout. I had a few break offs and cycled through a few flies mostly black, black/purple tarpon bunnies and pink clousers until I limited out.

Emily had joined me somewhere in the beginning and had watched all this go down. So when I limited out she was very willing to take the fly rod and keep it going. She made 2 or 3 cast's and scored her first Speckled trout on the fly at around 17 inches. Then upgraded to a 20 incher soon after and another 17 incher after that. By that time it was getting dark and we packed things up. We were so successful we decided against night light fishing. Let Emily hit a few Pokémon Go stops and headed home to fillet some dinner. All in all an awesome spontaneous Pokémon Go/ Fly fishing beach trip. Emily caught her first Blastoise and speckled trout and I upgraded my personal best trout. It's all about keeping both parties happy!

Danny is one of our pro-staffers and our local urban carp guru. You cannot find a nicer guy! If you're in the Houston area and looking to get out and catch some fish give him a shout. www.houstonflyfishing.com

Lately I have been fortunate enough to get a ride on a few friends skiffs and it got me thinking about guest etiquette. What do I need to know? Are there any rules about this? I have written down a few things that should help make your day on the water a more favorable experience and hopefully you get another invite to go fishing again.

Of course we all are great people, we fly fish! Sharing the real estate on a skiff for a day with someone new can either be a great experience or a long day. I'm not going to go into common sense things, but some of the things I will write about might not be common sense to the average bear. In random order, here is a list......

Wear non-marking soles.

Don't bring every piece of gear you own. One backpack and a few fly rods should do it.

Don't slam the hatches and be aware of the noise you are making.

Don't rock the boat while casting.

Listen to the guy poling the boat, about where to cast and trust him.

Calm down and make a good cast.

Don't guide the guide.

Be ready to pole your friend around too, they like to fish too.

Offer up some gas money, boats don't run on thanks.

Offer to help clean the boat.

Have a positive attitude.

That is the short list I always try to remind myself of when I get an invite to go chase some fish

The 5wt. Chronicles

Into The Backcountry

The 5wt. Chronicles

Georgia Brown

It always comes to a point, late in watefowl season, when the birds don't quite work tight into the decoys and you seem to have extra time to think about things to come. For me, this time often revolves around visions of copper and speckled chrome aggressively inhaling feathers, fur and shiny pieces of synthetic material bound to a hook. Like most, Ihave been tying and filling boxes, building leaders, getting gear organized and thinking a lot about fly rod design.

2016 is going to be full of exciting new rod concepts, the full line that we currently produce will receive some awesome additions. The "Fiberglass Renaissance" has us testing a few offerings in that realm as well. I am looking forward to being at the rod building bench this year. On the topic of rod design, we are due to release the new "Nano" rods this season. This rod has really surpassed my expectations. After watching other builders produce shorter rods for bass fisheries it just made sense for us to give it a go in the salt. Designed to carry shooting head style lines, these rods will give casters the ability to make very accurate casts with flies the size of Cornish game hens. We went for the one piece concept, at 7'6" this will not be the rod that most anglers will carry on a plane, but if you run a skiff or paddle a kayak on home waters your gonna love the Nano. We will be producing these in dual line ratings 8/9 ,9/10 and 11/12. What does that mean? If you are finding that conditions requirelonger casts, run the lower end of the line rating. When conditions dictate shorter presentations run the higher side of the line rating. This will load the rod slightly deeper allowing you to hit targets atshorter distances while carrying less line overhead.

As spring approaches I'm already thinking about some new concept rods for the beach front fisheries. So many possibilities are right on the horizon, this is why I build rods, so much has already been done. What's next ? That question can only be answered by sweeping up the thread scraps and cork dust and throwing another blank on the wrapping bench. If you have any questions about rod design or simply need a recommendation on one of our rods contact us.

Its cold outside and the wind is howling out of the north dumping all of the water out of the marsh.

Earlier in the week I arranged a trip with two of my good friends, skiff builder Brian and camera magician Robert. We planned the trip around the weather and set the date for Sunday at 9 am. Sunday rolls around and we are greeted with ice cream conditions. We normally like to get on the water after the sun is a little higher in the sky to help with visibility, but when I woke up I rallied the troops and we were on the water around 8. Brian found some redfish the day before on a scouting trip, so we headed straight for the pond.

As we motor through the marsh Brian eases up on the motor and climbs onto the poling platform. We quietly get all our gear ready and slowly pole into position. The water clarity was fair to good for Texas standards and the mud boils were a nice welcoming sign. We pole around the pond and spot a few here and there, but the redfish are not interested in our fly selection. Hmmm.. must the the high pressure.

I'm a big believer in major and minor feed times and today the major was set to kick off at 11:30 and last a few hours. Up until then we saw a dozen or so uninterested fish and by the time the major hit, we saw 20-30 more and actually convinced a few to eat.

It was a fun day on the water and trying to get the redfish to eat in shallow water, with high pressure that tested our patience and presentations. Sometimes you catch them all and sometimes getting a few spooky fish to eat and it makes your day. Until next time......

I've had some great success with the convicts lately out in the bay. I thought I would write down my experiences and add a little fly tying step-by-step on what has helped me make these suckers bite.

I'm at best a, decent guy behind the vice, and by far the guy you want to ask for fly fishing advice. What I have experienced with sheepies is just my.... well experience and I think the fly has a lot to do with it. Its not a pattern I made up (I don't think) but it is a pattern that catches sheepies and reds in my home waters.

I’m not the greatest fly tier in the world, but I do like to spend my extra time with a bobbin in hand and feathers on the floor. 

Man, What a way to start out the year!!!!! The marshfly website is up and the fishing has been pretty epic. All the while the weather has been less than stellar, with extreme low tides and high winds, making it hard to put any kind on decent pattern on the fish.

I have been fishing quite a bit lately and while all the trips have not been successful, what I lacked in quantity I made up in quality. Sheepshead, trout, and bull reds have been the target lately, and I landed my personal best sheepie.

My buddy Brian and I were out poling a flat and we spot a sheepie about 100 yards off, tailing on a clump of oyster. First cast was a little behind, but the second cast was right on the money. Two strips later I was tight, and brought this fish boat side for a few pics.

On another trip we had our sights set on jacks, but ended up with a trout trip of a lifetime on the fly. Brian boated the first trout of the day, a personal best for him at 24".

He then proceeded to catch 3 more big girls up to 27 3/4". I followed up with my best trout on the fly at a hair under 26" and 6.5lbs.

Epic day and we only fished them for an hour and a half, we lost daylight and headed home.

The most recent trip we were targeting big bull reds and while the conditions were about average for the time of year (windy) I managed my biggest bull on the fly.

As I think back while writing this blog, I think to myself, I’m off to a good start and hopefully there are more big fish in my future. I have a few more plans to target big fish this year. Cobia, Tarpon, and big Jacks are on the list. Stay tuned to the blog and see what we are up to.